Italy 2010

July 23, Palermo, Sicily

Today, I fly to Rome and then the Bari, on the east coast where I  caught a ferry to Dubrovnik, Croatia.  The ferry left a 10 pm, another overnight one!  And this one does not have seats, it is just the open deck, meaning that it is find a plastic chair or deck space.  The night was warm and the breeze was very nice.  The moon on the water was great.  The ferry arrived in Dubrovnik at about 7 am.  The sunrise over the Croatian coast was also great.  I actually probably got about 4 hours sleep.

July 22, Palermo, Sicily

Off this morning to go to Santa Cita.  This church has one chapel that is completely done in marble inlays.  Black, red and white!  The detail is unbelievable.  Next door is the Oratorio del Rosario, which from what I can work out is still part of the Santa Cita church.  This building has a chapel in it, with a garden.  But the chapel has every wall completely covered in sculptures of angels!  Again the detail is really something.

In the afternoon, head out to the Catacombs.  These are under a monastery, but really not completely underground.  Not sure how the 'near the quarry' meaning works for this.  Here there are actually the mummified remains of 8000 people, apparently from the mid 1800s.  A bit creepy at the start, but then the interesting part is that many are dressed in their appropriate occupation dress.  There is also 1 young girl who is in near perfect condition, considering her remains are almost 200 years old.  I was told that no one has figured out just how she has stayed in such good condition.

The traffic in this city is just crazy, even worse than Rome.  There are no lanes on the streets and I could not figure out just how anyone  gets anywhere!  And of course there is the constant blaring of the the horns!  Either to say get out of the way, hurry up or a few times just a warning that they are moving into that very small empty space.  I do have to say the drivers are amazing parallel parkers!  They can fit a car into a spot that seems to have only about 4 inches clearance, all together, not in the front and back!  All of this did make for a challenge to get across the street as there are not many street lights.  I usually waited for someone with a small child, my thinking that they would not hit a kid!  Seems to work, still here and did not get run over.  But a few times I did wonder!

July 21, Palermo, Sicily

Piazza Bellini, and the fountain Pretoria!  Very nice sculpture, no water and fenced off, but the detail in the statues of the people and the many animals is very nice.  Also walked by the Cathedral, which is a mixture of Gothic, Norman and Arab influences.  Actually does not look to bad.  Just a little bit more up the street is the Porta Nuova.  Traffic actually goes through the gate, but there are no stidewalks!  Was a challenge as it is really wide enough for 1 car, but usually 2 cars and a scooter go through!  Then you have to get past!  Just wait for the smallest break in the traffic to sneak around the corner.  

Also walked by the  Quattro Canti, a corner of 2 main streets where there are fountains (with water) on all 4 corners of the street.  The sculptures are about 2 stories high.  Very impressive.

July 20, Palermo, Sicily

Up early, even with an 11 am flight!  Not sure how long it is going to take and how much of a wait I will have for the train to the airport.

Turns out I had to wait for the clerk to come to work in order to check out, but in no time caught the tram to the main rail station and then walked right on the train to the airport!  Must of got some of the US ladies karma, as with them there was no waiting for the bus, or the trains.

Arrived no problem and was able to get to the city centre!  Found a restaurant just off the main square, and it turns out it was a buffalo place, so for the first time had a buffalo burger.  Not to bad.  

Spend the afternoon wandering around part of the city.  Walked by many very nice looking churches and fountains.  Many of the fountains did not have water!

Interesting place.  There seems to be a lot of garbage on the streets, but if you can see past that, then a fairly nice city!  The waterfront close to the city is concrete blocks with a park area.  Not much shade, but then no where near as hot as Rome!  Good thing, but still has to be near 35.

July 19, Rome

Up and on the tram by 9 am!  Heading to the Catacombs of San Sebatian and need to catch the Metro and then a bus!

Met 3 US women on the bus heading to the same way.  Was great to talk to them.  One was visiting, and 2 were working for the government in the northern part of Italy and were just touring for an extended weekend.

The catacombs were amazing!  7 miles of tunnels on 3 levels, as deep as 70 feet.  Dug out of a soft volcanic rock in the 3 to 5th centuries.  1000s of bodies entombed here, but they have all been moved to the 3rd level, so did not see any bones.  The tunnels are just a maze!  They are also outside of the city walls!  Interesting as they tombs are Christian, but there one of the first was a pagan mausoleum.  And the mausoleum now has the Basilica San Sebatian above it.  

Catacombs, really means 'near the quarry'.

Headed back to the Roman Forum where I spent almost 3 hours wandering around the ruins.  The size, the complexity and the detail of the buildings is very difficult to describe.  But even though it was humid and above 40 degrees it was still very interesting.

I ended up walking back to the train station, only about 20 minutes, but the route took me through a park and then through some of the residential area.  Headed back to the hotel, and had a shower and nap, with the intention of heading to a restaurant that had been recommended.  But ran out of energy and ended up just going to the local shopping area for a glass of wine and pasta.  Ok, was expecting real pasta, but I think it was microwaved!  Memories of my cooking, so not that great!

July 18, Rome

Lazy start to the day.  Spent some time talking to a guy that is from Warman Saskatchewan this morning at breakfast.  He is now working in London.

To get to the main Rail terminal, I have to catch this very very very old tram line!  Today it was rattling so much I thought for sure it was going to fall apart!  Guys on the trams said yesterday that it does break down a lot.  I do see that in the neighbourhood they are working on another, 3rd, metro line.  That will be great!  This one gets so busy that not everyone can get on!

Today went back to the coliseum area, and then wandered around the streets in the area.  Went to Basillica di San Giovanni in Laterano.  Does not look like much from the outside but the inside is impressive!  Again, huge ceilings, this time with gold trim, lots of it.  And more frescos around the whole building.  The floors were done in the usual marble, all with some pattern of various colours!  This building was consecrated in 324 AD, and was the original home for the Pope.

Did not do much else.  Went to the grocery store and wandered back to the hotel.

Went out later for Italian ice cream.  This has become a nightly must!  What am I going to do when I leave Italy.

July 17, Rome

Today off to the Vatican.  Don't think it counts as another Cathedral, although there is St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Today I paid extra to get a tour!  This allowed the group to go in fast and not have to stand in line.  They said it was a 2 hour wait, but I think it was really longer than that, it was huge!  Even still the people inside was unbelievable.  It was so busy, that it was wall to wall people!  Everywhere in the museum, the Sistine Chapel and even the square!  The guide said that the most they have put through is 27,000 in one day!  At 15 euros each!  Not bad!  The museum has many priceless items.  Nero's marble bath with is red marble and about 10 feet in diameter.  And of course lots of sculptures.  The highlight was the Sistine Chapel with the fresco done by Michelangelo in mid 1500s.  Very impressive.  The long hall that has maps was also very interesting.  Surprisingly they are about 85% accurate even though done about 500 years ago.

I also went in to the area where all the previous Pope's tombs are.

Also went to the top of the dome of St Peter's.  This was a new 'twist' on small narrow spiral staircases.  The walls in part were slanted in, in the shape of the dome!  Made the useable part of the steps even smaller!  Also made for uneasy balance.  But made it to the top and down again no problems.

There is also 2 spots in the square where the columns that go around most of the area actually disappear behind the front one.  Again the it is always surprising of the things they thought of when they built the square, and then be able to pull it off using such heavy marbel columns.

Then off to visit some of the other highlights of Rome - Trevi Fountain (again hordes of people), and the Spanish Steps.

Since it was 42 degrees, I was done in.  And then you have to count the humidity.  Glad I have air-conditioning in my room.

July 16, Rome

Got to the train station and there were the Kelowna people!  

Train ride was uneventful, and took about 4 hours.

Arrived in Rome early afternoon.  We decided that we would check into hotels and then meet at the Coliseum.  With the Roma pass, able to use all the city transport system and get into 2 places for free!  Magic words!  But the best was that we were able to go into a special gate with the pass, by passing the whole line up!  That was worth the money right there!

The place is amazing, huge!  Seating is steep but the sides, all the way around.  Also the technology used to move the animals and gladiators up from the 2 basement floors was really something.

Spent about 2 hours wandering around.  Was great to spend time with the couple from Kelowna.

Then we went for dinner not too far from the Coliseum.  Great Italian food and wine and of course the company.

Italy 2010

July 15 and into Italy, La Spezia - Cinque de Terre

Lazy start again.  Caught the 10 am train to Vernazza, the village where I left off yesterday, and headed off on the last leg of the hike!

This leg is one of the shortest but is to take longer, 2 hours.  Wow. Started off with steps climbing up and up and up!  wow.  Seemed like forever but was about 20 minutes of climbing.  Leveled off a bit and then more up!  The views of  Vernazza and Monterosso (the next and last village) are still amazing.

More difficult climbing/walking and the trails have become much much more narrow.  In many places not enough for 2 people to pass.

Still great.

The walk takes you through many terraces of olive trees and vineyards.  So nice!  Well worth the trip and so nice to be away from a big city. I will get that when I get to Rome tomorrow!

July 14 and into Italy, La Spezia - Cinque de Terre

Lazy start to day.  Caught train to Riomaggiore, the most southerly village of the area.

Head off on the walk.  Very easy going, wide, cobble-stoned paths, with many people in flip flops!  I am finally getting to use my new walking sticks.  I bought them in Kelowna, packed them, and have been carrying every since.  Took a bit to figure them out.  Not sure how many times they tripped me!  No one said you had to be coordinated to use them!  The coast line is beautiful!  Lots of people, including groups of people from cruise ships.  Not sure where they are.

Made it to the next town, no problem.  And off to the next, Manoira.  Another small little village.  The walking is getting a bit harder, fewer people, but still not difficult.  But getting nicer all the time.

It had to happen, actually met a former student, and her husband that work at the college!  Hilarious as she started to scream!  Too funny.  Had a great chat and turns out we probably spent a lot of the time traveling on the same train from Nice!  Amazing!  And we think we will be on the same train to Rome tomorrow!

The whole walk between through the 5 villages should take about 5 hours.  I spend about 3 1/2 hours doing all but the last leg, but I did spend a lot of time having lunch and chatting with a couple of women from Switzerland!

Made it to the next village, no problems, but again the walking is getting more difficult!  Saw a great beach to go for a swim, but it was a long way down.  That part would be easy, the hard part would be getting back to the trail.  But the ladies said there is a nice swimming place in Vernazza.  This is supposed to be the prettiest village of the 5.

And it is beautiful!  After a few steps, up and down, and down and up, finally made it!  This was the end for me!  As the next and last section is the most difficult!

The swim was great.  Cute as there are many colourful boats in the harbour!  Relaxed a bit, had an Italian ice cream and made my way back to the train and La Spezia.

July 13 and into Italy, La Spezia

Shall see if the guy at train station in Nice was right, when he rattled off the 4 changes of trains, and times of the trains for me to get to La Spenzia.  This is the Cinque de Terre area, a national park that had hiking trails along the coast, that runs through 5 cities.  Most of the last part of the trip was spent in tunnels with peeks of the Med along the way.  Looks great.

Arrived no problems, a bit tired, but was able to check in and go off wandering and find something to eat.

Spain and back into France 2010

July 12 Nice, France

Today went to Monte Carlo, Monaco.  It is only and 20 minute train ride!  Very busy as a few of the trains before were delayed.  A young Dr of physic I met on the train told me this.

Monaco is $$$$$$.  Walked around, Boat seem to be about 150,000 euros per meter!  The smallest sign I saw was for one 30 meters!

And then the car dealerships.  Mercedes, Lambogini, and Rolls all in a row.  

It is a nice place, built between the water and the cliffs.  Many elevators that allow you to move from street to street, but at different heights.

Went to go to the casino, but it did not open until 2 pm.  It was 11.  So wandered down the street, and found a small beach just past the main beach.  Went for a quick swim.

Then back to the ferry to go across the bay.  Better to look at the monster boats!  On the other side, a sailboat with Alex Barrier on the side, her solo world trip.!

Back to the casino, you must pay 10 euros to get in!  And then you pay to gamble.  The casino itself is not that big.  Very glamous, at least the public area is.  Many doors say private rooms.  Many tables, roulette, poker, banco, texas hold'em, and a few slot machines!

Well my first 5 disappeared very fast.  Moved machines and put in a 20.  Was down to about 10 and was going to leave, but just one more!  Well ended up at 60!  Played up and down between 60 and 50 for a bit, but it the end, cashed in at 50!  Hey that paid for the trip to visit here.

Back to Nice, shopped and dinner in room!

July 11 Nice, France

Slower start to the day.  Headed off towards the beach.  Walked along until the lift to the park that sits on top of the cliff over looking the city.  I think this is very civilized, as saves me from walking up the hill!  

The weather is hot, mid 30s and very humid!  Not sure why I had a shower this morning.  

The views were great and the city is very 'nice'.  

The beaches are not sand at all.  Mostly small rocks, but in some of the places along the coast, it is just rocks.  But they have put in cement, to flatten out some places for sitting/laying.  Amazing, they have actually created a walkway on the rocks, along the coast for people to use.  They even have made diving platforms on some of the rocks!  To bad would not do this in North America, they just worry about legal liabitilty!

July 10 Back to France, Nice

Normally a 9 1/2 hour train trip but there was also an 1 hour delay!  It was about 8.30 pm when I arrived.  No hotel booked.  The place is packed and it is Saturday night!  Many places are full, or dorm rooms, and I could not do that!  Ended up in a very nice hotel, expensive at 90 euros a night.

Went out for a walk and to find something to eat.  The Hotel is very close to on of the main squares, it has very nice human sculptures that are lit up at night.  A pedistrian mall with many shops, cafes, and bars.  All open.  

July 9 Barcelona, Spain 

Tried to sleep in today, did a bit!

Went to the Arc of Truimp.  Then walked towards the train station and the beach.  In one of the parks, some men were playing a very loud game of what looked like bocci.  They have the areas for playing in most of the parks!

Then spent the rest of the day at the city beach.  Lots of people and it goes for miles!

July 8 Barcelona, Spain 

Up about 7, but the problem is there is not a cafe in hostal, so have to wait until about 9 for coffee!  Was that a long haul!

But found coffee and headed off to the La Sagreada Familia.  Designed by Gaudi, with construction starting in 1882, and they hope to have it finished by 2020!  Not sure about that!  Apparently he was very detailed about the whole building, construction and contents!  It has many different aspects to it right down to the different sculpture sytles, detailed, and 'squared'.  The cathedral will have the capacity of 10,000 people, but also 1,200 in the choir that will be situated on a balcony!  

Took a ride up the elevator to the top of one of the towers!  Amazing views, but also just a lot of scaffolding!  Then took the narrowest spiral stairway down!  Have to do stairs!

Then onto metro again and headed to the Park of Mont Juic.  This is a fortress (Castell de Montjuic) built on the mountain that over looks the city and out into the sea! The best part, no entrance fee!  Which is good as by the time I got finished at the Cathedral it was 20 euros!

To get there, I had to take a tram that runs up the hill, fairly steep, and then on the way down took the gondola!  I think I have covered many modes of transportation today!

Went out for dinner at a nice restaurant, Origins.  The place specializes in local cuisine.  The food was excellent.  Couple of glasses of wine, meal, and dessert, I went all out, and all for only 23 euros!  Not too bad, but will be bread for the next couple of days to make up for it!

July 7 Barcelona, Spain 

Caught the local bus to Palma and then another to the airport.  I allowed 2 hours for the trip to airport, and that is what it took!  Amazing, does not seem to be that many people around but there were 3 buses go by that were full.

Arrived in Barcelona in early afternoon, and after catching the bus into the main city square, Plaza de Catalunya, and just a half block off La Rambla, a very long pedestrian walk way that runs from the plaze to the port!  Amazing, seems everyone walks it!  Was very nice.  Again, lots of different sorts of entertainers along the way.  Monsters, angels, magicians, you name it they are here!

Walked down to the port, and then wandered back through the Barrie Gothic.  The oldest area of the city!  Well, I thought other streets were narrow!  Some of these have signs showing the width of the street!  2 meters was one!  Very interesting place, and the 'streets' just seem to go everywhere!

On way back to the Hostal, I found the one museum I wanted to visit, the Museu d'Historia de la Cliutat.  This museum is amazing.  It is mostly a walk through archeological digs of a Roman city, all of it underneath the main buildings!  Too bad that no pictures were allowed!  It was very good.  Showed the houses, the shops, including the tanner and the wine maker.  

Made it back to the Plaza and wandered around a bit.  Everyone is out!  But of course, Spain was playing Germany in the football (World cup Soccer) and then won!  There were people lined up out of everywhere, as long as they could see a TV!  Was great!

July 6 Mallorca, Spain 

Another relaxing day.  Just took my time over breakfast and then off to wander around, and spend the afternoon at the beach.

Spain

July 5 Mallorca, Spain 

Took the bus into Palma today just to have a quick look around.  Very nice city, with huge boats in huge marinas.   Would that be nice!

 Caught the bus back and then went for a swim in front of the apartment!  That was great!  This is a very nice place, but many tourists, mostly from England and Germany it seems.  

July 4 Mallorca, Spain     

Another very lazy day!  Just drank a lot of coffee and relaxed.  Took a walk into the city centre, only 5 minutes away!

July 3 Mallorca, Spain     

The  owner of the apartment drove me to a beach about 7 km away.  It was very nice.  Lots of sand and rocks, but very busy!  Spent the day walking and exploring and swimming! 
Always have to have an event during the day, so my first swim I got stung by a jelly fish!  And then the next time a wave hit me as I was climbing out of the water on the rocks and a put my foot down on a sea urchin!  Oh well.  Just getting closer to nature. 

So nice, just to do nothing!  Other than that a very lazy day, not a lot of sleep!

July 2 Mallorca, Spain  

Well an easy day.  A 40 minutes flight vs overnight boat....

I arrived and was able to get to the bed and breakfast, in a private apartment, without much problem!  I only missed the bus stop by 1 stop!  But have arrived and the place is great.  Right on the water.  No sand but rocks for swimming from.  It is still very nice.

I arrived and the downstairs neighbours came up for a visit, it was 3 am by the time I got to bed.  Great time even though one of them spoke only a little bit of English.  Turns out they are from Uruguay and live here.  And just so happens that Uruguay won the football match that night so they were very excited.  The one guy even gave me his hat!  I gave him a Canada pin.

July 1 Valencia, Spain    Happy Canada Day from Spain!

And officially my first day of leave!

Off for breakfast and then to travel agent.  I could not bear the though of another overnight long trip after yesterday!  Ended up with a plane ticket to Mallorca and then to Barcelona.
I received an email from a couple on line that had a reasonable bed and breakfast place, close to the beach, in a small city outside of Palma.  They got me at a time when I needed to spend some time not on the go, so decided to try it.  Will see what it is like!

Then off for a walk through the park.  Except this park runs for miles around the city centre.  Beautiful.  There are football fields, tennis courts, walking paths, sculptures and of course fountains.  There is also several fairly new buildings that house the art museum and the oceanographic displays plus other things.  I was headed to the port to see the site of the America's Cup.  Found it after about 2 hours of walking.  Much of the 2007 buildings are still the same as they have the 32nd cup signs everywhere.  Down to the manhole covers are America's Cup!  But there is some 33rd, 2010 Cup.  Nothing around really to see.  There were a few racing boats, most on racks.

Then I went to the beach.  I stopped for a beer on way back to hotel.  Ended up talking to the waiter for about an hour, as I was the only customer!  His english was very good.  He is an masters student of Industrial Engineering, working for the summer.

He told me that the previous weekend was the Formula 1 race, which explains all the tires and stands everywhere. I actually walked down some of the track as it runs by the America's Cup site.  

He also had me try Horchata, a 'famous' Valencian drink.  I have no idea what it is but not too bad.  Like milk with vanilla in it.  I will have to google it when I have reliable internet.

June 30 Valencia, Spain

Up early to catch an 8.30 am train!  Was an interesting ride.  Mostly flat country as the train went back through Cordoba, and then on to Valencia.

Many orange tree groves but also many grape vines, many are very young as they have not yet been staked or wired up.  At least that is what I think they are.

Actually the 8 1/2 hour train ride, turned into 9 1/2 hours.  But fairly entertaining.  A lady sitting in seat across from me was telling stories most of the way that was keeping everyone around laughing.  I have no idea what she was saying, but she definitely had the floor.

There was also a young girl from Bolivia that lives in Valencia now, who was visiting her Grandmother in Seville.  She had some english so there was a little bit of conversation.  Arrived exhausted even though I had done nothing but sit!